Sustainable Operations – Our 2020 Goals

The manufacturing stage of our value chain represents about a third of our total carbon footprint from cradle-to-customer. Still, it is here we exert the greatest degree of control. We focus on our environmental footprint related to greenhouse gas emissions, water and waste, social and ethical standards in our manufacturing sites and relevant packaging and transport projects. Our main goals are listed below.

Target elimination of coal as a source of combustion at all sites and increase share of renewable energy to 20% of total energy use.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions with 20% per revenue vs 2010.

Reduce water consumption with 20% per revenue vs 2010 and establish water mitigation plans at high water risk sites.

Less than 10% waste to landfill or to incineration without energy recovery.

All DuPont Nutrition & Health sites are certified against ISO 14001 (International Standard for Environmental Management Systems). This helps us to assess, improve, and track the environmental performance of our own operations.

As part of our commitment to transparency, DuPont responds to the CDP Climate Change questionnaire each year. In 2016, DuPont received an “A-“ score, placing it in the Climate leadership band. See our latest responses here.

Grindsted site switches to green energy!

A great example of our sustainable energy strategy is the Grindsted wood chip project. The sites’ carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 45,000 tonnes annually, while the plant will deliver heat to half of the town’s district heating (reducing another 19,000 tons carbon dioxide).

The DuPont Nutrition & Health plant in Grindsted, Denmark, will become carbon neutral when the plant's large coal boiler is retrofitted to burn wood chips during the course of 2017.

Water consumption

Fresh water is critical for many day-to-day activities. The UN estimates that by 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water. DuPont Nutrition & Health is working to understand and reduce our impact.

In quantitative terms, our goal is to reduce our water consumption with 20% by 2020. Our focus is sites that use the highest volumes of water, but we also consider the location as some locations have a higher water risk than others. To understand the water risk, we use both the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Global Water Tool and the World Resources Institute (WRI) Aqueduct Water Risk Modeling Tool.

Our employees

We want our employees to be safe, healthy, and provided with a professional and pleasant work environment at all times.

Core Values and Code of conduct

DuPont employees conduct business by following the DuPont core values of Safety & Health, Environmental Stewardship, Highest Ethical Behavior, and Respect for People. These core values guide our actions and influence company policies and programs. The DuPont Code of Conduct provides a comprehensive description of our policy and approach to a wide range of issues, including: equal opportunity and non-discrimination; human rights; training, safety and health; ethics and compliance; and, product stewardship.

Health and Safety standards

DuPont Nutrition & Health is proud of its wide range of recognized Health and Safety programs. Employees take part in a wide range of yearly training courses on these topics.

SMETA ethical audits

We conduct ethical audits at our manufacturing sites and share audit results with customers through our SEDEX account. Audits touch upon topics related to Labor practices, Health and Safety, Business Ethics and Environmental management. Read more about SEDEX here. The company reference number of DuPont Nutrition and Health is ZC1093050.